Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Diasciaxc3x97hybrida cultivar Codiblim.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Diascia plant, botanically known as Diasciaxc3x97hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Codiblim.
The new Diascia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia. The objective of the breeding program is to create new compact Diascias with numerous uniquely-colored flowers.
The new Diascia originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 1999 of the Diasciaxc3x97hybrida cultivar Codiap, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,169, as the female, or seed parent, with a proprietary Diasciaxc3x97hybrida selection identified as X99.54.9, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The new Diascia was selected as a single plant from the resulting progeny of the cross-pollination by the Inventor in October, 1999, in an controlled environment in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia since October, 1999 has shown that the unique features of this new Diascia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Codiblim have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Codiblimxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Codiblimxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar of Diascia:
1. Compact and upright plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit.
3. Freely flowering habit.
4. White to light red purple-colored flowers with red purple-colored centers.
5. Good temperature tolerance.
Plants of the new Diascia differ primarily from plants of the parents in flower color as plants of the female parent, the cultivar Codiap, have soft orange-colored flowers and plants of the male parent, the selection X99.54.9 have pink-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Diascia can be compared to plants of the Diascia cultivar Codiaw, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,058. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia, plants of the new Diascia differed from plants of the cultivar Codiaw in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Diascia were shorter than plants of the cultivar Codiaw.
2. Plant form of the new Diascia was fuller and not as open as plant form of the cultivar Codiaw.
3. Plants of the new Diascia and the cultivar Codiaw differed slightly in flower coloration.